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The natives live in douars, or villages of small huts, 
or very low houses, which are a striking proof of their 
extreme misery. 
Their barks or vessels are very indifferent, and with a 
single sail; they can contain only three or four men. 
They call these barks sandals; they run them to Tripoli 
along the coast, and never at a greater distance than a 
league. One of these barks conveyed the water on 
board, which we had been in search of, as also some 
poultry. The men have no other dress than a brown 
coarse hhaik; they are lean, of a swarthy complexion, 
and in a miserable condition. They are very fond of 
fishing, and employ several tricks to net or to catch 
the fish, which is the chief article of their food. 
I have not been able to obtain positive information 
respecting the number of inhabitants of these islands, 
but I think that they are scarcely 600, perhaps not so 
many. They profess the mahometan religion, and the 
islands are under the direction of a sheik, who is chosen 
by the natives; and who sends every year to Tunis a 
quantity of fish as a tribute to the pasha, who draws no 
other revenue from those islands. 
We remained on this bank of Kerkeni until the night 
of the 7th November, and during all this time the wind 
was very high. Our captain in one of his excursions 
to the shore had the mast of his boat split, and the sail 
torn in pieces, whilst we were lying quietly at anchor, 
without being molested by the force of the wind, though 
we were at a distance of two leagues from the shore. 
During our stay, the sails underwent a repair, and the 
holes which admitted the sea water, were covered with 
copper. 
